Comprehend This, If You Can: Super Mario Bros 1, 2, 3, and Lost Levels Played Simultaneously

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All these games are being played by one (virtual) controller sending the same controls to four different (virtual) systems. This video, and others like it, is mind-blowing in the truest sense. My brain can’t really even compass what’s going on at any one time, but I know there’s a system behind this madness.

WHAT

The repository for these “tool-assisted” gameplay videos, TASVideos, is down at the moment (likely being hammered as a result of this video being posted around the net), but if it weren’t, it would probably tell you this:

This is a movie made for entertainment, and utilizes all kinds of shortcuts, input hacks, and so on to achieve a performance not reproducible by human hands, which is kind of the point (though they can be roboticized). And it’s worth noting that although the controller output was likely engineered frame by frame, these are the original games running on faithful emulators, no “cheating” apart from sending a recorded controller signal to each one. If you want real people beating games quickly, skilfully, and authentically, you want Speed Demos Archive.

Just thought some of our retro-gaming-loving readership might appreciate this. Fun fact: I used to do TASes, even had the record for Snake Rattle & Roll and Ninja Gaiden II for a while way back when.